In Trent Moody's sermon, 'How The Gospel Destroys Partiality,' he delves into Acts chapter 10, where Peter receives a vision that challenges Jewish customs regarding Gentiles. The sermon highlights God's impartiality and the universality of the Gospel, emphasizing that salvation through Jesus Christ is available to all, regardless of ethnicity or background. Moody underscores the importance of the Holy Spirit's role in breaking down barriers and enabling believers to share the Gospel without bias. He challenges listeners to recognize and repent of any partiality, urging them to embrace the Gospel's power to save all people. The sermon also discusses the significance of Jesus's death and resurrection, asserting that belief in these events and their meaning is essential for salvation. Ultimately, Moody calls for believers to be witnesses of the Gospel and to share its message with everyone, reflecting God's love and mercy.

Turn your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 10 and we will begin with verse 17 and read through the end of the chapter. Acts chapter 10 and verse 17. Thus says the word of the Lord. Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.

And while Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, yes I am he whom you seek for what reason have you come? And they said Cornelius the centurion just man one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you. And then he invited them in and lodged them.

On the next day Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up saying, stand up.

I myself also am also a man. And as he talked with him he went in and found many who had come together. And then he said to them, you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or to go to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I asked then for what reason have you sent for me?

So Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius your prayer has been heard and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea. When he comes he will speak to you. So I sent to you immediately and have done and you have done well to come.

Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all the things commanded you by God." And then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets witnessed that through his name whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins." While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnified God.

And then Peter answered, And then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord and then they asked him to stay a few days. Our Father in heaven, We marvel that you are a God who does not show partiality. Lord, if you were to look upon us in our flesh, there is not one thing, not one reason that you would choose us. Lord, I just magnify, I magnify your name this morning, even as these Gentiles did.

For here we are, the children of those very Gentiles, Lord, giving you praise and honor, magnifying you because you are a God who shows mercy. And your Holy Spirit has fallen upon us just as it did them. Lord, I pray that today your spirit would continue that great work of redemption. Lord, that you would bring lost souls into the kingdom. And Lord, hard hearts would be made soft.

Lord that you would cause dead souls to magnify you today because you have made them alive. Oh God do your great work I pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. Oh brothers and sisters It is a glorious thing to see the work and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our text this morning, we have so many glorious truths laid out before us. There's no possible way I could peel back and remove the little stones and show you all the gems of this text is beyond comprehension. And so in one sermon it cannot be done, But there is one glorious truth that captures my attention more really than all the others and that glorious truth is that God in His love and mercy shows no partiality among men. No partiality but of all nations, any nations, of all peoples, that Jesus Christ's gospel should go forth and they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ is worthy.

I just have to go back and read this passage in Isaiah. I've read it numerous times before but it is one of my favorites. Isaiah 49, 6. Indeed he says, God says to Jesus Christ, his son, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

This is how worthy our Christ is. He is worthy not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles that He would be salvation to the ends of the earth, that His name would be exalted and glorified. This morning in this passage of Scripture, I feel like a man who skips a rock across deep waters. And that's what I must do to get to the text that I want to get to today. I pray that I can skip through a few of these as a rock on these deep waters, but then I want that rock to just sink into the depths of the mercy and love of God.

I believe that there are some here this morning who, like Peter, needed to come face to face with the understanding that the gospel is not limited by the borders of ethnicity, nor by the prejudice of men, nor by the color of their skin or the depth of their intellect. That God's gospel is for all peoples, and the full benefits of that gospel of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ are given to all through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. It is the gospel of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. So first let's look on this first little skip of the stone, if you will, in verses 17 through 23, where we see here the Spirit of God confirming Peter's mission. Could you imagine just for a moment, after what we have read and we find that Peter sitting there upon the rooftop and receiving this message from the Spirit of God, and when these Gentiles come and knock on that door, that He would go down and describe to them, I'm sorry, I will not go with you.

You are a Gentile. Get off and away from my gate." You're not worthy of the gospel. You're of a different nationality. You're different in your thinking. You don't have the oracles of God like we do.

Leave here and be gone. Could you imagine a Christian saying such a thing as that? Well, praise God, we do not see such a thing as that in this text. We see a man who did have some prejudice as all Jews did toward the Gentiles. But we see a gospel that overcomes the prejudice of men and destroys partiality.

And this morning What I want to talk to you about is how the gospel does that very thing. How it destroys partiality among God's people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, the Spirit confirms Peter's mission here. In verse 19, we see very specifically that while Peter thought about this vision, remembering the vision of the sheep being let down from heaven with all kinds of four-footed beasts and creeping things from the earth, and how God spoke to him and said, Arise Peter, kill and eat, and he said, not so, Lord. There was the first little hint at his prejudice towards those things that he considered to be common.

But the Spirit said to him, behold, three men are seeking you. Not three Jews, not three Gentiles, not three barbarians, not three Africans, not three anything but three men. Three men created in the image of God are seeking you, Peter. Three men who do not have the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Three men who need to hear the gospel and be saved.

Peter, arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing. Why, Lord? Because I have sent them. I have sent them. The Spirit of God had sent three lost men to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Three men who were dead in their sins and trespasses, yet having some understanding of what had taken place and as we will see that of what had taken place in Jerusalem regarding this man Jesus they had a they had a God-fearing captain of the captain of the Roman centurion here of Cornelius who had sent them they had some understanding but not the full understanding They were in need and the Spirit of God has brought them. I have sent them. Praise God that God works in the hearts of even unbelieving men to send them. Peter had obeyed this heavenly command. In verse 22, we see that this divine appointment that God had given Peter he obeyed.

Listen to what this appointment was in verse 22 and they said he's describing to him who sent them. Peter it was Cornelius the Centurion. Peter he's a just man One who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews. He was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you. Peter's calendar may have been full, his schedule may have been packed, but God had come into his little schedule here and had erased whatever he had on that day and had filled in this divine appointment for Peter.

God the Spirit had brought three men to tell Peter what was on God's schedule for him. Peter, the Holy Angel sent us to summon you. I just want to cry out to all of us. The Holy Spirit has summoned you to go and speak the words of life to those who need the gospel. He has summoned you to do this very thing.

Maybe not by an angel and a vision, but by the infallible, all-powerful Word of God, He has called you to go. To preach the gospel to a lost and dying world. You have a divine appointment. You have the responsibility. Peter, He sent for you to come to him.

Peter, praise God, invited them in and lodged them. On the next day, Peter went away with them. He also took, it says, some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. Thanks be to God that God in his wisdom and in his sovereignty brought some more men with him. Because we'll learn later on just what God did in their hearts as well.

Because remember what I said last time, don't be so self-centered that you think what is happening in your life and in your circumstances is only about you. Don't be a narcissist. Don't only think that everything is about you. It's actually about much more than you. It's about the glories of the gospel.

It's about the kingdom of God. God was doing something not only in Cornelius and in Peter. He's doing something in these companions, these unnamed companions. He was doing something in these three men who knocked at the gate to go receive Peter. And he was doing something in the entirety of the New Testament church and he's doing something right now.

And he wants you to understand that God is about the gospel. And you should be too. The next little skip of the stone, if you will, in verse 24-33, we see here an eager people. And we also see an enlarged understanding of the Apostle Peter. Peter didn't have all understanding of what was going on here.

This was unusual. This was something that had rocked his world. It rocked the very understanding of what it meant to be a Jew. And God was tearing this thing down in his own eyes and in his own mind and in his thinking. He had to have this confirmation of the Spirit to show him that he was to go do this thing that was so unusual to him and so unbelievable.

But when he gets here it says, In the following day they entered Caesarea, and Cornelius was waiting for them. And he had called together his relatives and his close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshiped him but Peter lifted it up saying, stand up. I myself also am a man and he talked with him, a Jew and a Gentile. And he went in.

This doesn't seem amazing in our eyes. It is amazing for a Jew. It was amazing for Peter to do this. He even acknowledges this amazement and how unlawful it was for him to do such a thing. We have an eager people though and Peter walks in and he sees an eager people, he sees an eager man who meets him, falls down at his feet.

He brought his friends and his relatives here to hear the words that Peter was going to speak. I'm somewhat amazed that these three men who came to get Peter didn't give him more of an understanding and fill in the blanks for him. But Peter walks in and he's saying to you, He wants to know what it is. Matthew Henry says that he was expected by many. And this was a further encouragement to Peter.

As Peter brought some with him to partake of the spiritual gift he had now to dispense so Cornelius had called together not only his own family but kinsmen and near friends to partake with him of the heavenly instructions he expected from Peter, which would give Peter a larger opportunity of doing good. He gives us a note here. We should not covet to eat our spiritual morsels alone. There are times to partake of the spiritual goodness of God together, and that's what we're here to do this morning that we would all gather together for a feast from God's Word and we would eat this together so that we would all be benefited by the very Word of God. It ought to be he says both given and taken as a piece of kindness and respect to our kindred and friends to invite them to join with us in religious exercises, to go with us to hear a sermon.

What Cornelius ought to do he thought his kinsmen and friends ought to do also. How about you? Do you believe that what is taking place here this morning, the worship of Almighty God, is worthy of your friends and your neighbors and your relatives? Should you invite them as well? Cornelius says though in verse 33, I hate skipping all this beautiful wonderful stuff, he says so I sent to you immediately and you have done well to come Peter.

You have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God to hear some of the things. No Cornelius came with a heart that was eager to hear all the things commanded you by God. He was there to hear the whole council of God. He didn't only want to hear about the grace, he wanted to hear about all of it.

He wanted to hear about Jesus Christ. And we'll see that Peter was not only going to tell him about the death of Jesus Christ, but he was going to tell him about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was not only going to tell him about how Jesus did these things, but all the things that He had done, and how He had healed, and He had done miraculous things, and God had raised Him from the dead, and not only that, but the commission that Peter had, and the commission that you have, to be witnesses of Him, and to go and tell everyone. No, Cornelius wanted to hear about all of these things and Peter wanted to tell him about all of it too. I do not believe that we have the fullness of the sermon here in this text.

Because if all the world cannot contain the books of what Jesus Christ did, I don't believe these passages probably contain all that Peter had to say. He had so much to say about his Lord. He had so much to learn about his Lord. He's learning even right now about what God views, how God views the world, and how God views the Gentile, and how God views you. What is your understanding of what God is doing and how God views the world?

You see, Peter's understanding had to be enlarged. It had to be enlarged to include the Gentiles in his doctrine of salvation. He had a bit of a limited doctrine of salvation to some extent here. He understood justification. But he could not find exactly how the Gentiles fit into that doctrine of justification.

And so God was peeling back the layers, if you will, of this onion for him, and peeling back the glories of the gospel to show him, and probably to remind him of this passage in Isaiah, that Christ was worthy. That it was too small a thing for Jesus Christ to only bring redemption to the Jews, but that he would give him the Gentiles and to the ends of the earth for the gospel and for salvation. You see Christ was worthy and Peter needed to understand and needed to have his understanding enlarged. So we come now really to the point I wanted to get to where Peter preaches the impartial gospel of Jesus Christ. I have to put that in there because over and over again we read here about how God is teaching Peter, do not call common what I have called clean.

Peter himself acknowledges that. Look with me in verse 34 and Peter opened his mouth and said in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. This was, you know, sometimes a brother or sister will come up to you and say, what has the Lord been teaching you? I heard this yesterday at family camp. What has the Lord been teaching you brother?

And they'll go on and they'll say, hey I was reading this this week and the Lord has taught me this and he's helping me to understand this more fully. This was almost like what was happening to Peter here. But Peter was the one just declaring. He opened his mouth and said in a truth, because remember Cornelius had just said, we want to hear all the things commanded you by God. And Peter says, hey, in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality.

That's what God's been teaching me. In fact, he just taught me this. God shows no partiality. Though the Scriptures had said it, it's like I've read it a hundred times, but I never saw that. And so Peter declares to him, these are the things that God has been teaching me.

He shows no partiality, verse 35, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. Of every nation? Really? Of every nation. This reality struck Peter right into the heart.

God had been setting the stage for throughout this passage. He is enlarging the scope of Peter's understanding, stretching him beyond what he knew before to be true and now is showing him just how much truth there is in the Word of God. He needed to understand regarding the Gentiles inclusion into the Kingdom of God and what he is about to do in enlarging the substance of Cornelius' understanding of the person of God, Jesus Christ, who was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. My prayer, really for each of you and for myself this morning, is that God would do the same thing to you. Where is your point of partiality?

It may not be the color of skin, it may not be a nationality, but what is it? Is it wealth? Is it, for you young guys, is it coolness? Is it intellectual capacity? Is it beauty?

How about strength? What is the point of your partiality? Who is it that you see and deem to be unworthy of the gospel? God forgive me. God forgive me when I look upon a person and think, I never said it but I thought it.

I don't think they would believe the gospel. I've just said more about my belief in the gospel than I ever did about them. God forgive me. That I would ever think that the gospel is hindered in any way for anybody. For the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

There is no one beyond the power of the gospel. No one. God help us. God is putting his finger on the point of the partiality of Peter to show him, my gospel is for all nations, because Christ is worthy of all nations. He is worthy of all people.

And in fact, God actually delights in those you deem unworthy of the gospel. He delights to display them as trophies. He confounds the wise. Oh, the strong, they are nothing. I cannot believe that there are those here even this morning that need to understand that the gospel is for all people.

I would say who are you to think that you could bar anyone from the offer of the gospel? Based upon some external that is so temporary and so shallow. That somehow you are wiser than God. That you know more. That you have this great, powerful intellect.

You have such a philosophy you're able to wax eloquent with your rhetoric and with your wisdom. And to think that you would be wiser than God is. To see someone as being unworthy to hear that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. Who are you who would deny Jesus his rightful trophies? Trophies of his grace.

I'm here this morning to declare to each of you and to myself that the gospel is for all men no matter the color of their skin, the dialect of their tongue, or the capacity of their intellect. Christ is Lord of all. For I declare to you, Revelation 5 verse 9, and they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth." Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne. The living creatures and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever.

And then the four living creatures said, Amen. The four living creatures said Amen to that song. We hardly say amen to our songs, but these creatures said amen and the 24 elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. This is the song of heaven. Shall we join in the song of heaven?

Out of every tribe and tongue and nation I say amen to that. I say cast down your foolish wisdom, 1st Corinthians, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved. Brothers and sisters, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise?

I almost think that this is what's being said in heaven right after this song is sung. Where's the wise? Where is the understanding? Where is the prudent? Has not God made foolishness the wisdom of this world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God. Through the wisdom, see the world Through wisdom did not know God. That's where worldly wisdom will take you. Agnosticism, atheism, Racism. For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God.

It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For the Jew requests a sign, Greeks seek after wisdom, but we, we preach Christ crucified to the Jew a stumbling block into the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren." you want to see who God delights in. For you see your calling, brethren.

Not many wise according to the flesh. Not many mighty. Not many noble are called but God. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty.

And the base things of the world. And the things which are despised. The things which are despised. The things which are despised. God has chosen God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Christ became all of those things for us. That as it is written he who glories let him glory in the Lord. Galatians 2.6 but from those who seem to be something whatever they were. I love how Paul writes, it makes no difference to me.

God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seem to be something added nothing to me. Can I just declare the same thing as Paul? To those who seem to be something, they add nothing to me. I have the gospel of the glorious Jesus Christ who shows no partiality to the Jew and to the Greek to the white and to the black to the dumb and to the wise he is the glory of God and he is the gospel of God to salvation they add nothing to me in their worldly wisdom may it be done away with May they be wrapped up in their own foolishness and may God exalt over them.

Ephesians 6 9 says, and you masters do the same thing to them giving up threatenings knowing that your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with him. This is our God. He shows no partiality. What if He did? There would be no hope for any of us.

If he made his judgments based on externals, God help us all. God never perverts justice. He is righteousness. He is love and He is mercy. And His ways are beautiful.

His ways are so much higher than ours. He does not look on the beauty of a man or the stature. He doesn't look what country did you come from. When you stand before Christ, he doesn't say who was your parentage. He doesn't say what relationships did you have or how much money did you have.

Honor did you have? How many degrees did you have? No, our God is a God of grace. He does not show favoritism. He does not have partiality.

He gives favor. He gives all of these wonderful things to us. He gives us grace and He gives us wisdom. He gives us understanding. He gives us strength.

He gives us all things. And we say yes and amen. Thank you Lord Jesus. And he gives us brothers and sisters out of every tribe and tongue and nation and now I can look across this room and say you are my brother and you're my sister and I love you and I love you. Peter came in verse 36 and he wanted to preach peace to them because he was preaching the Prince of Peace.

The word he says which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. Notice what Paul says in Ephesians 2 14, for he himself is our peace. Listen to how many times he says this, for he himself is our peace, who made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity. That is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.

And that he might reconcile them both to God, Jew and Gentile, in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near. For Through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Isaiah 57, 19 says, I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord.

And I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace says my God for the wicked the wicked listen to what he says again The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. Their waters cast up mire and dirt. You want to know who the wicked are? It is those who are constantly like the troubled sea, Casting up mire and dirt just to stir up controversy and to stir up filth and vileness and all of the other things.

There is no peace for them, and there will be no peace for them, unless they repent, and then there will be peace. It is important to understand that God is inclusively regarding those, let me rephrase this, It is important to understand that God is inclusive regarding who can be saved. Let me clarify this. Jews and Gentiles. But he is exclusive regarding the way of salvation.

He's inclusive regarding the who. He's exclusive regarding the way. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There is no other door.

There is no other. All men. The gospel is for all men. But there is only way. It is only through Jesus Christ.

You see the news of Jesus that we see in verses 37. Again, this is, let me back up to 36. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ. Listen to what he says, He is Lord of all. This is not only describing the matter or the mass in which Christ is the Lord of.

He is Lord of everything because He created everything. He's not only the Lord of the heavens and the earth and the stars and the sun and the moon, He is Lord of all. But He is also Lord overall. He is the Lord of every tongue and tribe and people and nation. All nations everywhere should bow the knee to King Jesus.

I don't have room in my understanding of the Scriptures and of the gospel to say no that God is for that nation and this God is for this nation. No Jesus Christ is the God over all nations. I declare this morning that everyone should repent and bow the knee to King Jesus. Whether the atheist or the agnostic or the Muslim or the Hindu or whoever, Jesus Christ is Lord of all. You see Peter acknowledged in this verse 37 here next he says the word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and so they Cornelius and his men had a general understanding.

They had heard the news. They had heard things that were happening. And I believe that is why Cornelius was praying and God said, I have heard your prayer. And he sent men to Peter to come and tell him. So Peter would tell him the fullness of the gospel.

He had a general understanding, but Cornelius needed to hear the specifics. And then Peter describes one of the great callings of all of God's people that we are witnesses in verse 39 of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. We are witnesses to all these things. Brothers and sisters we should be that very witness even as Peter was. And Peter understood that he needed to be and that the apostles were and that the early disciples were.

We are his witnesses. This was the fulfillment of Acts chapter 1 verse 8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the end of the earth. Witnesses to all things that he did not simply just the doctrine of salvation. We need to understand that part of believing the gospel is believing all things that Christ did, and all things that Christ taught.

We are to witness all things that is written in the Scriptures. We are also to teach new believers how to obey all things. That's what Matthew 28 tells us. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. That's why Cornelius said, Come and teach us all things that God's Word has commanded you.

They wanted to know all of it, and Peter was going to tell him all of it, to hear all things commanded you by God. That's what people with a heart for God want. They want to come and they want to hear all things that God has for them. Not only were they witnesses to all things that he did, but he was witness and they were to be a witness to the death of Jesus Christ. We're getting into some really important parts of what we must believe to be saved.

We want to know all things that he has for us. We must know about the death of Jesus Christ. That's what he says here. He says in verse 39, he says, and we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Now I don't know what was going through Cornelius's mind at this point.

I could imagine he was you know this is in the midst of a sermon, so the thought process is going fast, but sometimes, I don't know about you, if I'm sitting in a message, it seems like time stops sometimes on a point that was made, and I'm just like, I'm thinking about it. It's almost like if you almost get an erect, time slows down. And you begin to meditate upon this. Think about what Cornelius is thinking. Whom they killed.

Wait a minute, you were just telling me that this man was anointed by God. He was full of the Holy Spirit. He was full of power. He went about doing good. He was healing people.

Even those oppressed by the devil, he was casting out demons. And then Peter says, they killed this holy one of God. They hung him on a tree. Peter knew that he needed to understand that there's something very significant and important. The understanding, the substance of Cornelius' theology about salvation needed to be broadened to accept the death of Jesus Christ.

Because apart from the death of Jesus Christ, we have no salvation. And so he opened up this truth of all things that God had commanded. Remember, we're working within that framework. All things that God has commanded you, Peter, tell us. And he opened to him and said, they killed him on a tree.

Period. But not the end of the passage. Listen to what he says next. Him, God raised up on the third day and showed him openly. Brothers and sisters, apart from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.

We have no hope. We're believing in, if we don't believe in this, and this didn't happen, we're believing in a man who was hanged on a tree with 10, 000 other men who were hung on a tree. What makes this different is because of what God did in the midst and because of Jesus Christ being hung upon a tree. It wasn't just the fact of his physical body being nailed to a tree, but it was because of the wrath of God that was poured out that was yours and mine. It was poured out upon Jesus Christ on that tree.

That's what made the difference is because what God determined the death on the tree would be. He determined that that point in history and that fact of the cross of Jesus Christ would be the very thing that would redeem you from your sins. That would be the very thing that would atone for all of your sins. It would be the very thing that we throughout 2, 000 years of church history would sing about. Who sings about a cross?

Let's sing. Let's sing this morning of him who was hung upon a tree. No wonder the world thinks we're crazy. But it is through the foolishness of preaching that God confounds the wise. It is through the death of the Savior that we have life.

That's an oxymoron to the world. Through death you have life, amen we do. Because he's not still dead, he had power over death hell in the grave and God raised him up on the third day and showed him openly. He demonstrated his power. He raised him from the dead.

You see Romans 5, 6 through 10 says, for when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love towards us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him." That was the point of the cross that Peter needed to get across to Cornelius so that it would open the substance of his understanding of the gospel and of the truth of what God was doing. He needed to understand that through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross that this is what God was doing.

That through this death of Christ that we have been justified by His blood and we have been saved from God's wrath. There's no other way to be saved from the wrath of God than through the death of Jesus Christ. This is the message we have to preach. They need to know, the world needs to know there's only one hope for your soul. There's only one way to escape the wrath of God and that is through the death of Jesus Christ.

Through his blood. Yes, we will sing there is power in the blood. And again, we are his witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are to be witnesses not only to the fact of the resurrection but listen also to the meaning of the resurrection. You can believe in the death of Christ but you need to believe in the meaning of the death of Christ.

It will not save you just to say, yeah, I believe there's a man who died on a cross. That won't save you. You have to believe in the meaning of it. It won't save you just to say, well, I believe that there was a man who died on a cross and God raised him from the dead. Even that won't save you if you don't believe in the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You must believe in what God was doing in these things. Romans 4 says, now it was not written for our sakes alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us it shall be imputed to us who believe in him, who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. We have to believe that this act of Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection was the very act by which God was pouring out His wrath that we deserved upon a righteous man and who was raised again to prove that we are now right with God. Apart from the resurrection, we have no hope. We have to understand what God was doing in these things and we must be declaring it to the entire world Because first Corinthians 15 17 says that if Christ is not risen your fate is futile and guess what you're still in your sins.

The significance of the resurrection is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. Without the resurrection, we are still in our sins, and if still in our sins, we have no hope. But Jesus Christ did not raise from the dead so that we would be hopeless. He raised from the dead so that we would have a living hope, and that's what Peter tells us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope.

Through what? Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's our living hope. To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Guess what?

Praise God who are kept by the power of God. It's a good thing he keeps me. I'd be in some serious trouble but praise be to God I will glory in my Redeemer who keeps me by his power. I am not kept by mine. I'm not sustained by mine.

If I could lose it, I would lose it. I'd have probably lost it this morning already, I promise you. But Jesus Christ keeps me by his power and by his righteousness and by his death and by his resurrection and by his ascension and by His intercession. He keeps me. He keeps me.

Listen, as a true Christian, You cannot walk around hopeless. You cannot walk around hopeless as a true believer. You're denying the power of the resurrection if you do. Oh, hopeless fear be gone. A hopeless Christian is not a Christian because we have a living hope and a living Savior.

And we are to be witnesses of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was not some ethereal or some sort of phantom that they saw. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen he was seen by Cephas he was seen then by the 12 After that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remains to the present. But some have fallen asleep. You see this resurrection was not a secret, but it was revealed.

It was displayed by over 500 people who witnessed this bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ sat down and ate and drank with the disciples. He was known to the men on the road to Emmaus through the breaking of bread because He was a man and he was alive. It was no ghost. It was Jesus Christ in the flesh.

And the apostles were willing to die for this fact. Willing to die for the fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. He commanded, the commanded message from God we see in verses 42 and 43 and then I want to jump right to the end quickly. They were commanded we read to preach to the people look at what Peter says and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. Listen, there is coming a day when you will stand before the judge of all the earth.

And I'm going to tell you what his name is. His name is Jesus Christ. Every man, every woman, every child, every nationality, every tongue, every tribe, every religion, every atheist will stand before this judge. He is judge of the living and the dead. And this was no secret.

The Bible says in verse 43, to him all the prophets witnessed. It was not some new thing that just came about from the New Testament. All the prophets have witnessed to the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that what he did, that he was going to be the judge of the living and the dead. But listen to this glorious news in verse 43. Whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.

That's the glorious message that we have for every tribe, tongue, and people. Every color of man, every language of man, every location of man, every man, whether ignorant or wise, strong or weak, pretty or ugly, yes, pretty or ugly, thanks be to God. There is a gospel for them too. It is right here that whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. Forgiveness.

Children that's what remission means. It means that you can be forgiven. Listen children you can be forgiven for your sins. Do you hear me children? You can be forgiven for your sins.

You can be forgiven for your sins. All children look up here please. I want to see your eyes. Look up here, yeah. You can be forgiven for your sins.

Whoever believes on Him will be forgiven. But God was not done in demonstrating that he does not show partiality by simply the preaching of Peter. The preaching of Peter was glorious. It was a great sermon. I say it's the perfect sermon because here it is in the Scriptures.

It was a great sermon. It covered the death of Christ, the good works of Christ, the miracles of Christ, the burial of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the witnessing that we are to do of Christ, the righteous judge of Jesus Christ that He is the judge of all the earth, of the living, of the dead. But guess what else God did? God wanted to verify this thing. He wanted to put his stamp of approval on it so that you would know, and they would know, and I would know, and all the world would know that God does not show partiality.

His gospel is for all. And he stamped his approval on it right here in verse 44. While Peter was still speaking, God interrupted his sermon. Oh man, I hope he does that today. He interrupted his sermon.

The Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision, here's why these men came. You remember those men I was talking about? They came with Peter. Here he is.

Here they are. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. How can this be? How can this be that the gospel is for the Gentiles and for all the world? For a Roman soldier?

You've got to be kidding me. They were astonished that it was for them too. As many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. How can this be that Christ died for me? I'm a Gentile also and Christ died for me.

What a glorious truth. Praise be to God. Lord, interrupt my sermon, please. For they heard them speak with tongues, and they magnified God. And then Peter answered, can anyone forbid that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit and this is important just as we have.

There are those who believe in our day and age that the Spirit is given by measure to certain people more than others. But Peter is saying that they had received, the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit just as they had. God shows no partiality. He shows no partiality into the extent of who can receive the gospel. He shows no partiality to those whom he gives the Holy Spirit.

He doesn't just, oh you're of the Gentiles, I'm gonna give you just a little Holy Spirit there, there you go. I'm gonna give you 25%. Oh you're strong I'll give you 35 you're pretty I'll give you 65 none of that nonsense oh you're white I might give you six 85 It's an abomination in the sight of God. Peter testified before them all, they have received the Holy Spirit just like we did. What is the job of the Holy Spirit?

He's got many wonderful jobs and one of those is to sanctify us. How? Through the truth. Thy word is truth. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we understand the glorious nature of the gospel and the Holy Spirit quickens us, he enlivens us, he helps us, he comforts us, he leads us, he teaches us, and praise God, he sustains us, and he is our guarantee of that inheritance that we have in heaven.

That's what Ephesians 1 tells us. He is the guarantee of all that God has promised for us. He is the proof that God shows no partiality. And He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, just like them. So brothers and sisters what do we do with this?

I hope you know. I don't have application points because I hope the whole sermon was an application point. You see let this be an example and a warning to each of us. We have not the right nor the authority to call common what God has called clean. If your personal views differ from the Word of God even so slightly.

I pray that you will repent of that. I desire that you will find that point of partiality in your heart and mind and crucify that to the Lord Jesus Christ and be done with it. And then I want you to turn and go out of these doors and every opportunity that God gives you, I want you to declare this glorious gospel that has been preached to you this morning. Do not hold back. If the gospel is powerful enough to save Peter and is powerful enough to save Cornelius and is powerful enough to save the Apostle Paul, and is powerful enough to save me, it is powerful enough to save every single individual that you run into.

And whoever believes will have remission of sin to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, I pray Lord that your spirit would do a glorious work here this morning. Lord, I don't know what partiality, points of partiality that there may be here in any individual heart, maybe multiple points. But Lord, I'm most concerned right now about those in my heart.

God, I pray that you would remove any point of the ungodly partiality in my heart and in every heart in this room, in every heart that may be listening, I pray God that your light would shine on that spot, that ugly, dark spot, and that you would cleanse it. And I pray, oh Lord, that Jesus Christ would be glorified and that we would deem the gospel powerful, powerful enough to save the most vile, the most wretched. And Lord, I pray that you would raise up beautiful trophies of grace that will magnify your name throughout all eternity. And I ask it in Jesus' name, amen.